Skip to main content
Electronic Theatre Controls Inc

Why Doesn't Emphasis Offline Editor Run on my Computer?

We have occasionally had customers who have been unable to get Emphasis Offline Editor running. Here is a list of troubleshooting ideas in case you run into this situation.

The problem had nothing to do with multiple versions of the software being installed.  Here is what's going on:

  • The ETCAccessories installer places EOE.exe in the [...]\WYSIWYG\Emphasis directory.  This .EXE's sole purpose is to call (i.e run) two other .EXEs, in order to start Emphasis Offline Editor. 
  • The first .EXE called is [...]\WYSIWYG\emphasisconsole\EOEConsole.exe.
  • The second .EXE called is [...]\WYSIWYG\Bin\EOEVisualization.exe, and CANNOT START if EOEConsole.exe is not already loaded.
  • There is a good chance that the computer is a little slow in starting the console, and that is why the visualiser can't connect to it.

The workaround for this problem, is quite simple:  create shortcuts to the applications listed above and place them on your desktop.  From now on, instead of starting EOE from its shortcut on the desktop (i.e. the one placed there by the installer), launch the console manually, wait until it loads, and then launch the visualizer.  When you quit the visualizer, the console will quit automatically.

If the above "manual method" doesn't work, there could be two more reasons why the visualizer cannot connect (i.e. can't run):

  1. AppMux.exe is still running as a process, most lilely because of a failed previous startup attempt.  To check this (and to shut down AppMux), go to your Task Manager (type CTRL-ALT-DELETE as you would when you log in to Windows, then click the Task Manager button), switch to the Processes tab, and look for "AppMux.exe".  (You can list the running processes by name, by clicking the "Image Name" column header.) 
  2. If you find AppMux.exe in the list of processes, please select it by clicking on it once, and then click the End Process button.  Click Yes in the warning dialog box that appears, and then close the Task Manager window.  You can now attempt to start EOE again; if that doesn't work, the manual process described above (i.e. with the shortcuts) should do the job.
  3. One of the registry keys needed to run the visualizer is missing or set wrong.  Run the Registry Editor by accessing your Windows Start menu, selecting Run, typing regedit, and clicking OK.  Navigate to the following key,  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > CAST Lighting Limited > WYSIWYG > R11, and look for an entry called EmphasisSystemId, in the right-hand pane. 

If it is there, please ensure that the number at the end of its value is either "(0)" or "(255)", with the brackets but without the quotes. 
 
If this registry entry is not there, it must be created:

  • right-click in the left pane (but not on an entry) and select New > DWORD Value
  • the new value will appear at the bottom of the list, ready to be named; type EmphasisSystemId -- please use the caps as shown here
  • close the registry editor

Please reboot your computer at this point, and when you are back in Windows, attempt to start Emphasis Offline either via the shortcut on the desktop or via the manual method described above.

  • Was this article helpful?